In the Beginning

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” - Genesis 1:1 (ESV)

James 2:18 Ministries was formed in 2022 without a concrete idea except to try and connect Christians living with a mental illness with the church. For two years, ideas were discussed, but no action was taken on how best to help people. Then the idea of Bibles being donated to inpatient facilities came up. Several organizations already donate Bibles to hospitals or hotels, but what about inpatient behavioral health facilities?

Softcover Bibles are required for safety purposes and organizations that supply Bibles to hospitals or hotels do not always provide softcover Bibles, nor the complete Old and New Testaments. So we took a step out in faith in June 2024 and sent 240 letters to inpatient behavioral health facilities across the United States. The letters asked the facilities if they needed softcover Bibles for patients to use as they recover during a behavioral health hospitalization.

Within one week, there were positive responses from chaplains, administrators, and healthcare workers at about 20 behavioral health facilities. This number has risen to over 55 facilities over the course of one and a half months.

God has moved greatly in exposing the need for His Word in behavioral health facilities. Now we pray for Him to deliver the funds necessary for Bibles to consistently be delivered to these facilities.

Please join us in this journey to help those dealing with a mental illness experience the love of God. We will use this blog to provide you with a weekly update on the progress of the Bible donation program, including any new behavioral health facility partnerships, church partnerships, delivery stories, and success stories from patients who have been positively impacted by the Bibles they received during their inpatient stay.